Table of Contents

Frequentely Asked Questions

Below are commonly asked questions, collected from the IRC or our forums. Some questions are not Vampire-related but more about general Amiga knowledge and marked GAK, we just found these might be useful for users.

A: Vampire 500 V2+ is not officially supported in Amiga 2000 even if it has been reported to work. Amiga 2000 requires more signals than the Amiga 500 and you are lucky if it works.

Q: Can I boot from microSD slot ?

A: Current driver revision isn't able to boot from microSD.

Vampire V4

Q: When will Vampire V4 be available ?

A: Vampire V4 is still in developement and we hope to release it during 2019.

Q: What are specs of Vampire V4 ?

A: Final specifications are :

Cyclone 5 A5 with 77k LE and 28nm technology

512MB DDR3 RAM

FastIDE 40/44-pin connectors

Digital Video-out up to 720p@60Hz

Dual kickstart-flashrom (for safety)

MicroSD Storage

Q: Fine, but how much will Vampire V4 cost ?

A: Price is actually not set. Expect an increase in price due to higher specification of Vampire V4 than current Vampire 600 V2 and Vampire 500 V2+.

Q: I heard that there is a problem with A1200 connectors preventing it of being produced, is that right ?

A: That concern has been adressed and a solution has been found.

Q: Fine, how can I preorder a Vampire V4 now ?

A: V4 can't be preordered until we release it officialy.

Q: For which Amiga will Vampire V4 be available ?

A: The Vampire V4 is made with a standard “one design to fit them all” and comes in three flavors depending on customer need:

The Vampire V4 Standalone System

The Vampire V4 for Amiga Classic compatible with

Amiga 1000/500/2000/CDTV

Amiga 600

The Vampire V4 for Amiga 1200

Technical

Q: This is emulating a 68060, right ?

A: No, the 68080 core is a legitimate 68000 series processor. It is not an emulation any more than old 68k chips are.

Q: Can I display WHDLoad games through the digital out port ?

A: Not yet but this is planned with GOLD3 core ! We advice you to get a 15kHz capable monitor or a ScanDoubler in the meanwhile.

Q: What RTG resolutions are available right now ?

A: The driver supports from 320×240 up to 1920×1080, however, the Pixel Clock of the Vampire is limited, so you will need a TV/monitor that can cope with low refresh rates if you want to use large modes (e.g. for 1080p you'll need to run at 24Hz vertical refresh). We recommend using 1280×720 or 960×540 for best Amiga experience.

Q: How many colors can the be displayed in RTG mode ?

A: All depths are yet available. 8, 15, 16, 24, 32bits.

Q: Do Vampires have a FPU ?

A: FPU is available as an hybrid software/hardware solution since GOLD2.7. More details about it here.

Q: Do Vampires have a MMU ?

A: MMU implementation is not currently planned for 68080 Core CPU.

Q: Can I run OS3.9 BB2 ?

A: Yes, you just have to modify SetPatch to SetPatch NOROMUPDATE QUIET in S:Startup-Sequence to not load “AmigaOS ROM Update”.

Q (GAK): Do we need to use CardPatch with Vampire V600 ?

A: A600 do not have the PCMCIA bug. Cardpatch is not needed.

Q: Do I need to remove my kickstart ROM with Vampire ?

A: It is recommended but not mandatory.

Q: Why haven't you made the Vampire compatible with SATA/BT4.0/Thunderbolt/NVMe/[add any non-available technology here] ?

A: Developping such technologies on a 80's computer requires times and skills. If we wanted to work on such technologies for Vampire, first orders would have approximately been shipped in August 2047. All those technologies requires at least dedicated drivers and obviously corresponding stack. Has anyone seen a bluetooth stack on AmigaOS3 until now ?

Q: Why VControl does output an older version string than last JIC core I've just flashed from wiki ?

A: JIC is not updating the revision string, only flashexe is. You are probably running last core but with older revision string.

Troubleshooting

Q: My V600 keeps popping off, how can I stop this ?

A: It may help to sand the PLCC socket. V600s from kipper2k have already been sanded. You may need to slightly tighten the left screw holding the Vampire, but be very careful, tightening too much may crack the board, and/or damage the plastic mount.

Q: Why am I getting crashes with PCMCIA networking ?

A: Disable CardPatch from your S:Startup-sequence, it is not needed with the Vampire. If that does not help, post to our forum.

Q (GAK): How can I prevent WHDLoad “NMI Autovector” errors from appearing ?

Q: Since GOLD2, Fusion and Shapeshifter don't work anymore (even with RsrvWarm/Cold or PrepareEmul). What can I do ?

A: Our exec.library reserves correct amount of memory the same way as RsrvWarm/Cold/PrepareEmul did. Only thing it doesn't do is moving the VBR to FastRAM. We recommend use of tools like VBRControl to move it to FastRAM.

Q: How can I prevent devil entities from appearing out of my Vampire ?

A: Any use of holy water or garlic on your device will result in loss of your warranty. We strongly advice you to call your doctor before doing anything silly

Q: I heard that since GOLD2.7, some FPGAs on Vampire 600 V2 could be too weak to run latest cores and might require a capacitor modification to make it stable. Can you explain ?

A: Since GOLD2.7, FPGA is heavily used and some early Vampire 600 V2 showed sign of electrical weakness. To fix it, just solder two 2.5mm 220µF 10V on C3 and C6 like in this video. We recommend help of a professional.